Teachers planning protest

MUSKOKA - While high schools are welcoming back extracurricular activities, elementary school teachers are getting ready to protest.
At press time teachers in the Trillium Lakelands District School Board were preparing for an “informational protest” on Tuesday evening. The protest was planned to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School in Bracebridge, an hour before the monthly school board meeting is webcasted to a classroom at the school.
Steve Colliver, president for the Trillium Lakeland Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, said the protest is in relation to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) hearing.
“(It’s) an information picket to show their displeasure with the fact that the employers spent all this time with the OLRB application,” he said.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board and Upper Canada School Board took the elementary teacher’s union to the OLRB to determine whether the union was counseling unlawful strike activity. The hearing began on Jan. 25 and ended in the beginning of February, but no decision has yet been reached.
Karen Round, trustee for the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, said the teachers have a right to protest, and the board is also looking forward to a decision.
“We had a strong case going in, they just have to tell them - were they allowed to do this or not,” she said.
The protest will also take place in Lindsay and Minden. There is no word on when a decision for the hearing will be made.